Bhakra Dam

Bhakra Dam is a concrete gravity dam across the Sutlej River and is near the border between Punjab and Himachal Pradesh in northern India. The dam, located at a gorge near the upstream Bhakra village in Bilaspur district of Himachal Pradesh, which is about 13 km upstream from Nangal township, is Asia’s second tallest at 225.55 m (740 ft) high next to the 261m Tehri Dam also in India. Its reservoir, known as the “Gobind Sagar”, stores up to 9.34 billion cubic meters of water. The 90 km long reservoir created by the Bhakra Dam is spread over an area of 168.35 km2. In terms of storage of water, it is the second largest reservoir in India, the first being Indira Sagar dam in Madhya Pradesh with capacity of 12.22 billion cu m. Described as ‘New Temple of Resurgent India’ by Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India, the dam attracts a large number of tourists who visit its reservoir and attractive location. The distance between the Ganguwal and Bhakra Dam is about 30-35 km.

Nangal dam is another dam downstream of Bhakra dam. Sometimes both the dams together are called Bhakra-Nangal dam though they are two separate dams.